Thalia and the Top Thrill Dragster
by RascalJoy
Summary: Thalia was no chicken. She'd killed hundreds of monsters, faced death dozens of times, and could even deal with her annoying cousin Percy Jackson. More or less. But when it came to facing her worst fear, it was all she could do to save her pride.


**Hello everyone! So, I wrote this in the car yesterday in under twenty minutes, so it's DEFINITELY not my best work, but I was so bored and this idea just wouldn't leave me alone. So, yeah. This came out.**

**It's set just after "Battle of the Labyrinth," during the same summer.**

**Thank you Liana Legaspi for betaing on such short notice! Everyone, you SERIOUSLY need to check out her stories. They are AMAZING!**

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Thalia didn't know how she got there. All she knew, was that she wanted to get _away_.

She gripped the handle bars for dear life, her palms slick with sweat. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she strove to control her hyperventilating. She couldn't show fear. She couldn't show how panicked she was. She wasn't going to give a certain kelp head the satisfaction.

Where was she? In the front seat of the Top Thrill Dragster.

It all started when Rachel Elizabeth Dare had invited Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and her along to a charity Cedar Point trip. (All proceeds going to the endangered Madagascan glow worm. Thalia had no idea what it was, but it must have been important.)

The day as a whole had been pretty embarrassing for Thalia, as she backed out of all the rides with a hill higher than fifty feet. Which pretty much meant every decent ride in the park. After getting humiliated riding the Woodstock, Mine Ride, even the Gemini Jr. with Grover the scaredy goat, Thalia was ready to call it a day. However, her supposed comrades had other plans.

"Why don't you want to ride the bigger rides?" Rachel demanded.

"Yeah, Thalia," Annabeth agreed. "The Magnum was awesome."

Thalia gave them all her signature death glare. "No reason," she said shortly. "I just don't feel like it."

She glanced around and noticed Percy studying her closely. Of course he had to be the one to know her secret fear of heights.

"Well, we were planning on hitting the Top Thrill Dragster next," Rachel said. "You wanna come?"

"Yeah, Thalia," Annabeth piped up. "You should come with us." Her face turned stunned as she realized she had just agreed with Rachel.

Thalia knew that Annabeth and Rachel had some sort of grudge match that centered around a certain son of Poseidon. Gods, that boy was more trouble than he was worth.

"Nah, I'm good," she said, a little too quickly.

The others stared at her skeptically. She knew they didn't believe her.

"Why not?" Rachel repeated.

It was hard enough for her to decline and look weak, but to admit the real reason she didn't want to ride these coasters? That would be too much for her all ready wounded pride to handle.

"I dare you to ride it with us," Annabeth announced, her eyes glinting mischievously. "In the front coaster. Or are you chicken?"

Thalia stared at her, open mouthed.

Grover's eyes flashed with an emotion Thalia couldn't quite identify.

"I double dog dare you," he said. Then his face turned ashen. "Oh gods, that means I've got to ride it too."

Thalia looked up at the four hundred foot tall hill. Just looking at it made her feel dizzy.

"Come on, Thalia," Percy begged, looking slightly desperate. "I want to ride it. But your dad will probably blast me out of the coaster because I'm going up too high. He won't shoot you down. Besides,"—he leaned in close and lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear—"you owe me a couple."

He stared at her pleadingly, his sea green eyes wide, reminding her of a lost little puppy. It also reminded her of a little blond-haired, blue-eyed boy that she used to play with and take care of so long ago. She could almost hear his happy laughter as she tickled the poor boy...

_Nope_, Thalia chided herself. _You're just going to miss him all over again. Jason's gone. Nothing will change that._

She took a deep breath as Percy continued to stare at her with those baby seal-like eyes.

Sometimes, Percy could be such a kid. Even at fifteen years old.

"Fine," she grumbled, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

Percy's face lit up. "Let's go!" he cried, grabbing her by the arm and tugging her toward the line.

So that was how she ended up in the front coaster, sitting at the traffic light, about to have her face peeled off.

_Screw you, Jackson_, she thought.

But when she turned around to tell him so, she saw his fists clenched on the handlebars, staring up at the sky warily. She realized that he was as scared as she was, but for different reasons. He was afraid that her dad would shoot him out of the sky.

She managed a small smirk. So there, Percy. We're both terrified.

It took all her willpower not to scream at the operator to back up the train and let her get the Hades out of there. She just managed to swallow it back. She needed to save whatever dignity she had left after giving in to Seaweed Brain like that.

What freaked her out almost as much as the ride itself was the fact that what held her down to the seat was a single seat belt and lap bar. No harness, no full body bars, nothing. And they were going straight up and down four hundred feet.

Grover was muttering prayers in Greek next to her, his eyes squeezed shut. He looked scared out of his fake feet.

She squeezed her eyes shut as the motor began to rev, getting louder and louder each second.

She found herself praying silently, almost begging every god who would listen to let her survive. She caught herself just before she called out to Hera. She wasn't that desparate. Yet.

Suddenly, the engine stopped.

Relief flooded through Thalia's chest as she cracked open her eyes. The ride must be broken. The car began to settle backward, as if it was returning to the station. Thalia let herself relax.

Without warning, the car leapt forward, shooting ahead faster than an arrow and causing Thalia's vision to black out. She screamed, but the sound was ripped away by the wind as they climbed the horrible hill.

When they reached the peak, time seemed to slow down, and Thalia saw the track drop out in front of her. Pure terror coursed through her veins as she saw how far away the ground was, and her vision began to swim.

"Oh my gods!" she shrieked.

Then they were going down.

Thalia screamed for all she was worth as the ground grew closer and closer. This was it. She was going to die. She closed her eyes and braced for impact.

The coaster slowed to a stop.

Thalia cracked open her eyelids and found to her shock that they were parked next to the waiting line at the end of the ride.

"Woohoo!" Percy whooped.

"That was totally wicked!" Rachel agreed.

"I think I might have peed my fur," Grover whispered to her in a trembling voice.

That was the final straw. Thalia burst out laughing, and it sounded hysterical even to her. But she couldn't help herself. She was just so glad it was over, so glad that she was alive. All her tension just came out in that crazy laugh.

Pretty soon, Percy joined in, followed by Annabeth, and eventually Grover and Rachel.

Thalia was the first one out of her seat as they reached the unloading deck. She shot out of the gate and waited for the others to catch up.

"Now we're even, Kelp Head," Thalia whispered as Percy walked by.

He grinned at her. "Whatever you say, Pinecone Face."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Seaweed Brain."

"Sparky."

"Fish Face."

"Lightning Rod."

"Okay, guys," Annabeth said as she walked up to them. "We get it. Now shut up."

"Owl Head," Percy and Thalia said in unison.

Annabeth raised an amused eyebrow. "Two of a a kind," she muttered.

"What?" they exclaimed, then turned and glared at each other.

"Hey!" they said again.

"Stop it!" they screamed.

"Whoa," Rachel said, eyes wide. "This is weird."

Percy and Thalia whirled onto her. "Shut up, RED!" They once again glared at each other, opened their mouths, and clopped them shut in perfect sinc.

"Holy Zeus," Grover exclaimed. "You guys are freaking me out."

"I need to get back to the Hunters," Thalia announced stiffly. "Thank you for inviting me," she told Rachel. Then she turned and walked out of the park. She silently swore she would never come here again. Not for anything.

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**So what did you think? Let me know in a review! I know it's DEFINITELY OOC, and as a general rule I try to keep my characters in-character, but hey, I can have a little fun sometimes, right?**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! Also, could you please check out my "House of Hades" fic? I have been working on it all year, and I just got around to publishing it. It's the biggest writing project I've ever taken on, and it would mean a lot to me if you even just glanced through the first chapter! Thanks!**


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